Mike's Mets

Tuesday, June 6, 2006
By Mike Steffanos

Since getting off to that hot 10-2 start, the New York Mets have gone 24-20 and have been unable to put any significant distance between themselves and the teams trailing them in the eastern division standings. I know this because it's something I've been hearing a lot lately, especially from those who seek to throw some doubt on the Mets chances this year.

It certainly has been tough for the Mets since Brian Bannister and Victor Zambrano went down to injuries. They have been unable to sustain a real hot streak with Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez taking the hill 3 times apiece and an injured John Maine getting battered in his one turn. In addition, with the pressure on to pick up some of the slack, Steve Trachsel gave the Mets a 5.46 ERA in May with 4 of his 5 starts being stinkers. Things seem to have stabilized for Trachsel, God willing, and now there are signs that the other 2 rotation slots are in better hands.

Soler spent his first 2 major-league starts showing what can happen to a curve ball pitcher when he doesn't have his command. Last night he showed us what can happen when he does, and showed a much more effective fastball, too. Orlando Hernandez has shown some flashes that might stabilize that five spot, although his given us reason to be concerned, too. Still, when you look back at where we were in mid-May, when only Pedro and Glavine could give the Mets a solid start, to where we are now, there has been some progress. If the Mets can get decent starts every time out, this can give this team a chance to run off another good stretch of games at some point.

It probably won't happen this month, which the Mets will spend mostly on the road playing good teams: the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Toronto, Boston and the Yankees. Their one homestand upcoming features the Orioles and a 4 game set versus the surprising Reds. Still, if we can see more of what we saw last night, we can compete in the tough series, and be poised to do something when they're over. The farthest west the Mets will go after this week for the rest of the year will be Colorado and Houston.

The other teams in the division have their own problems. After beating the Mets on May 9 to secure their ninth consecutive wins, the Phillies and their fans were pounding their chests and declaring the National League east all but theirs. Since then they've gone 12-13. After sweeping the hapless Cubs in Chicago in the last week of May, the Braves and their hoards of apologists in the media were starting to crow about a revival in Atlanta. That "revival" has led to one win in the last seven games for the Bravos. "Experts" have assured us since the spring that the Braves would figure out their bullpen and ride their starting pitching. Not only does the bullpen continue to hemorrhage runs, but the vaunted Atlanta starters haven't been all that great, either.

So, while I still have plenty of concerns about the Mets, I feel fairly good about how they have weathered the storm up to this point. The "experts" stridently assure me that the Braves and the Phillies will play better. I'm sure they will, but if the Mets stabilize their rotation, you can't show me anything that either of those other teams have that truly scares me. The Mets have a lot of work to do in June and early July, but they've done amazingly well so far. I wonder how many other teams could have handled losing two of their starters and have another one pitch really poorly. If they can pass these upcoming tests, it doesn't really matter how badly some in the media wish to see them fall on their faces.

Surfing the Mets: Lastings on Lastings
In his Daily News blog, Adam Rubin has a conversation with Lastings Milledge regarding the controversy from Sunday.

On whether he still feels slapping hands with the fans after his homer was a "rookie mistake":
No, I really don't. You know what? It happened. If it all replayed again, you know what, I don't regret one thing I did. As far as showing up somebody, it might look like that. But I'm not here to show up anybody, because I haven't done anything here at the big-league level. I haven't put in enough time here. These guys have been here way longer than ... They've been here as long as I've been playing the game. So I have no right to show anybody up. Did it look like it? Maybe it did. But I didn't have any intentions of showing anybody up. I wanted the fans to enjoy the home run with me, and enjoy the moment. It was a one-time thing. That's what I wanted to do. I did it. Let's move on from it.

On his reputation coming into the league taking a hit over the incident:
Definitely. I've already been put out here as a guy with baggage. You know what? People are going to draw their own conclusions. Just from me getting drafted all the way to playing my first game in the big leagues. The only thing I care about is what my teammates think of me. If anybody else has a problem on an opposing team or anything, well, guess what? I've got to go out and beat you anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me whether you're mad at me or you hate me or anything like that. I'm trying to beat you. You're trying to beat me.

How his teammates handled it:
Unlike everybody else, my teammates understand. Other people who are thinking it was all bush league or whatever, they didn't understand. How many people at 21, let alone in the big leagues, hit a big home run, their first home run, at a key situation? How many people have done that? Not to toot my own horn, because if somebody else did it and I was a veteran, I would look at him like, maybe he should have done it, but wow. They're the best teammates ever. We have some veterans on this team who could have easily been, man, but you know what? They showed me support -- from everybody. Everybody had my back.

Getting Paid to Watch: Eric Gregg
Bob Sikes shares a personal recollection of the late Eric Gregg.

Faith and Fear in Flushing: Appologies all around
Greg from Faith and Fear has a feature full of all sorts of apologies. I beg your forgiveness in advance for making you read it.

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